Church Giving Lessons from St. Patrick’s Day

What can you learn about church giving from St. Patrick’s Day? The modern holiday may mostly revolve around shamrocks, leprechauns, and green beverages, but the celebration does hold some insights that can be helpful to your place of worship.

Keep Church Giving On Their Minds

As March 17 approaches, it is hard to ignore the fact that a holiday is right around the corner. Stores begin to decorate with and sell St. Patrick’s Day items. Local restaurants begin advertising specials for the big day. The newspaper announces parades and other events that will take place in your area. And when you leave home on St. Patrick’s Day, the holiday is impossible to miss, with most people you run into on the street and at work sporting their brightest green clothes.

For some places of worship, church giving can be largely ignored. Your staff doesn’t want to pressure your members to give, and so you rarely — if ever — bring up the fact that you need donations. But if you want to grow as a church and keep up the important work you do, you can’t keep giving on the back burner.

You don’t have to seem pushy in order to keep giving on your parishioners’ minds. Mention your giving options at least once during every service. When you make it impossible for your congregation to ignore church giving, they will be more likely to give regularly.

Your Church Giving Doesn’t Need Luck

Your place of worship doesn’t need the “luck of the Irish” in order to succeed in growing your church giving. In fact, relying on sheer luck is a surefire way to watch church giving fall through the cracks.

Think you don’t have any control over how much your parishioners give? Think again. You can take steps to ensure that offerings increase by planning out a fundraising strategy. Take note of the funds you need to raise, and come up with an actionable plan to make it happen.

As mentioned, keeping your congregation informed of your giving methods is a great first step. Another great way to stir up donations is to explain to your members what their offerings will go toward. This helps them feel like they are actively contributing to an important goal. Seeing how they can directly make a difference in your church community will lead them to give more.

To get an extra spike in church giving, begin accepting donations in more ways. Use mobile and online giving, and include links to these methods in every email newsletter. Spread the word on social media. This enables churchgoers to give even if they forgot to bring cash or checks, or when they aren’t physically in church — a whole group of donations that you otherwise would never receive.

The More Green, The Better

On St. Patrick’s Day, it is common for people to wear green, whether or not they are of Irish descent. A less-cherished tradition even involves pinching those who do not sport green on the holiday. One thing your church has in common with St. Patrick’s Day is this: you can never have too much green.

For your church, more “green” means having more funds to keep your building running and support the work you do in your community and abroad. If you don’t have enough of this type of “green,” you will be under a lot of stress and it could cause you to cut back on the work you feel led to do.

That is why it is imperative that you use the methods outlined above to increase giving in your church. Once you see the funds roll in, you can get work done that you never thought possible.